donating your own blood

[labguides]

Have you donated your own blood for use, if necessary? If you had to use blood other than your own, did you feel secure? Our daughter (age 26) surgery is schedule for January 9th, but she has had a cold and has not been able to donate her own blood.

 

[Karlynn]

My surgery was so quick that I was only able to donate part of the blood that they wanted on hand. My sister-in-law is my type, so she also donated.

Karlynn

 

[Ross]

For both of my surgeries they recycled my own blood and gave it back to me. I did need a couple of pints that I had not donated later. It's a concern, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. They test pretty thoroughly now a days for problem donations.

 

[Rich]

Donating your own blood is probably a good thing.
But if you can't maybe try this.
When I had my surgery in '96 the Red Cross had a designated donor system and perhaps still do.
It is where relatives, friends and co-workers with your blood type can donate blood for you and you only.
With this system you know where that blood is coming from.

 

[medtronic of borg]

blood

blood

First off I have had many units pumped intop me over the years. I really don't worry about it. I have never gotten anything from any of them. And my blood is monitored for a variety of things every three months.

Med

 

[rosebobh]

Just returned from the surgeon's office for a pre-surgrery interview for my husband's upcoming MV repair/replacement. We asked about self-donated blood and he suggested donating 1 pint 3 weeks prior to surgery.

He said it was unlikely that blood would be needed during surgery. But, afterwards, it would be good for hubby to have it replaced.

Doc explained that the three-week timing is important. It gives the body time to recover from donating and primes the body to be creating more blood cells so that the recovery will be smoother. (Rather than waiting for his body to get into gear after the surgery.)

He also explained that the one-unit limit is important so that hubby's not too low going into surgery.

Rose

 

[Raverlaw]

I asked my surgeon about this at my first interview. He stressed how safe the blood supply is now. I was concerned because my mother-in-law has hepatitis C she contracted from a transfusion given years ago. He said that blood from the blood bank was likely safer than blood from relatives or friends.

He discouraged me from giving blood before the surgery, saying that I already had low BP and losing a pint would further stress the heart.

 

[Harpoon]

Ask your docs first.

I'm not allowed to donate blood, not for anyone, including myself.

I'm also a rare blood type, B negative and it happens my wife is a compatible donor (she donated her quota while I was in the hospital, it all ran right through me too!)


If you can, do it, if your immediate family can and is willing, that's good too.

Whatever they don't use for you can probably be useful to someone else.

 

[Mb]

Hello!

My husband decided he wanted his own blood, if they needed it, so we made arrangements with the Red Cross and his surgeon in Boston. He donated one pint. He was scheduled to donate a second pint, but the day I took him to the Red Cross to dod that, they told me that his pulse was thready, the heart beat was not strong, etc. etc. He didn't look good that day either. They told me to take him to the hospital, but he wouldn't go, so stright to his PCP's office I took him, and stood in the lobby demanding that they see him. They did. Call to his Boston cardio, and the surgery was moved up a bit. By the way, it cost us $500.00 for the one pint he did donate. Personally I do not think that donating the pint of blood helped his condition a bit. He was pretty sick and in CHF, and I think donating only made him more anemic, and therefor weaker. Post surgery, it took a year to get to being only "mildly anemic". THos of you with artificial valves know that the valves do damage the red blood cells as they whoosh by, so most of you will suffer from mild anemia for the rest of your lives. So, that's my two cents!!
Marybeth